Manns Chinese Theatre is a great place to visit in LA. It is a little smaller than it looks on TV, but is almost more tasteful—there is a beautiful Asian influence to the decor, and you can really imagine all the movie stars of yesterday and today, heading to movie premieres. It makes you feel like a star and like you are really having the Hollywood experience.

Outside of Manns Chinese Theatre you can see all the footprints and handprints of the famous stars. This can be kind of crowded, especially if you go during prime tourist season or prime tourist time. It was a little crowded for us and we had to wait a little while to get our pictures taken with Marilyn Monroe's handprints. The more popular the star, the more tourists taking pictures—that is to be expected. It is nice that you do not have to pay to try out the handprints and take the pictures and see if you fit in with the stars prints. They even have Lassie's pawprints there—which was really fun.

You can also pay extra to tour the theatre. This is kind of cool because you get to walk around inside and see the historical stuff and the movie memorabilia. There was also a sort of art gallery type thing inside but that wasn't that great.

They also have movies and movie premieres there and the seats are very comfortable if you can get into a movie or a premiere. You also can maybe see movie stars, or so I have heard, although we did not see any movie stars on the day we were there.

I definitely recommend a visit. You should at least try out the handprints and footprints. Try to go later in the day so it will not be as crowded, or if you get to visit LA in the off-seasons (whenever they are—maybe in the summer when it is much hotter and less comfortable there). I don't know if I would spend the money for the tour of inside, unless you are really into the old movie stuff or seeing a movie, or want to imagine you are a movie star going to a fancy premiere.

When the movie King of Kings premiered in 1927, it was a new theater that hosted the premier. That theater was Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Sid Grauman, the builder of other famous L.A. sites such as the Egyptian Theater and the Million Dollar Theater, wanted to build his dream location. With help from a real estate mogul, he bought a piece of property down the street from the Egyptian, paving the way for one of the busiest tourist spots in the U.S.

Hollywood’s elite are immortalized in the theater's courtyard called the forecourt. The first two movie stars to imprint their feet and signatures, where Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks back in 1927, before the theater even opened. Since then, anybody who’s anybody, gets to add their own feet and signatures to the courtyard. This is a very busy spot on Hollywood Blvd. If you go to www.manntheatres.com/chinese, you can see a map of the forecourt to help you locate your favorite stars’ footprints.

Grauman’s is one of the most sought-after theaters for movie premiers and is still very much a part of the Hollywood community.

There are VIP tours of the inside and the history, but there is a price for the tour. It’s a really nice way to see the inside of this legendary place.

TOURIST ALERT: The costumed actors you see walking around outside the theater and across the street, dressed like Michael Jackson, Batman, Mickey Mouse, Spiderman, etc., are not employed by the theater. If you want to take a picture with Darth Vader or Wonder Woman, you’ll be required to hand over some cash. Don’t waste your money. These people are just panhandlers with no jobs. Don’t get sucked into their web. Just an FYI.

NEWS FLASH: Go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9813043/ and read a story about some of those costumed impersonators getting arrested.

While this is a typical tourist thing to do I really enjoyed it a lot. It is located near many hollywood attractions on the famous Hollywood Blvd. I enjoyed seeing the many foot/hand prints of stars from long ago and recently. The theatre was built in 1927 and the tradition of foot prints in the cement started when Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped in the fresh cement. Since that time there have been over 200 stars who have placed there mark in the cement.